Hydraulic shovel



May 17, 1966 G. GulNoT HYDRAULIC SHOVEL 3 Sheets-Sheet l Filed Jan. 13, 1964 May 17, G GUINOT HYDRAULIC SHOVEL Filed Jan. 13, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 May 17, 1966 G. GUlNoT HYDRAULIC sHovEL 3 Sheets-S'neet 3 Filed Jan. l5, 1964 United States Patent Oflice 3,251,490 HYDRAULIC SHOVEL Gabriel Guinot, Le Plessis-Belleville, France, assignor to Societe Anonyme Poclain, Le Plessis-Belleville, France, a French society- Filed Jan. 13, 1964, Ser. No. 337,397 Claims priority, application France, Jan. 14, 1963, 921,288 7 Claims. (Cl. 214-138) This invention relates to hydraulic shovels.

` Numerous types of hydraulic shovels are already known for various types of work, such shovels consisting essentially of a rigid jib pivotally connected to a chassis or a pivoting turret and operable by means of a jack pivotally connected to said )ib and the said chassis. Implements of the grab, shovel or bucket type are suspended from the end of the jib and are most frequently controlled by hydraulic jacks. In some special cases, for example for levelling work, a rocking lever is suspended at the end of the jib and supports an implement, whose orientation with respect to the ground has to be kept constant. At the present time this effect is achieved with means of varying complexity, more particularly by synchronization of controlled jacks.

However, and more particularly in the latter case, the implements mounted on the jib do not enable the implement to be lifted during operation -to a height Suthcient to load the removed material into a lorry.

The present invention relates to improvements to hydraulic shovels of the above kind, so that they are more flexible in use and enable a plurality of stages of an operation to be performed without any appreciable modification of the features of the equipment.

According to a first feature of the invention, an intermediate arm is pivotally connected to the end of the jib, such arm supporting a deformable parallelogram which forms a rocking lever and the end of which lbears a working implement, a hydraulic jack being connected on the one hand to the jib and on the other hand to one of the elements of the deformable parallelogram.

According to another feature of the invention, locking means, for example mechanical or, preferably, a hydraulic jack, are provided to lock the intermediate arm with respect to the jib. Where a hydraulic jack is used, the latter may be connected to the jib and -to the intermediate arm. The jack is preferably of the double-acting type to provide locking in both directions.

The invention will be more readily understood and various secondary features will be apparent from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGUREl 1 is a side elevation of a hydraulic shovel jib equipped according to the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a diagram of the locking jack control system; and

FIGURE 3 is an alternative embodiment showing a locking jack disposed between the intermediate arm and one of the elements of the deformable,parallelogram.

Referring to the drawing, a turret 1 is mounted-preferably pivotally-on a chassis, a jib 2 being conventionally pivotally connected to the turret, said jib being operable by means of a jack 3, for example of the double-acting type, which is in turn connected to the turret and the jib.

An intermediate arm 4 is pivotally connected to the end of the jib at 5 and bears a rocking lever, which has been given the general reference 6. The rocking lever is in turn formed by a deformable parallelogram comprising, for example, two links 7 and 8 of equal length, respectively pivotally connected to the intermediate arm at 9 and 10. The working implement which, in the example shown in the drawing, is a levelling implement comprising essentially a scraper Ibucket 11, is mounted at the bottom ends of the links 7 and 8. For good amplification of the movements, the bucket 11 is pivotally connected at 12 to an inter-mediate element 13 to which the ends of the links 7 and `8 are connected at 14 and 15. An auxiliary hydraulic jack 16, which is also pivotally connected to the bucket 11 and to the intermediate element 13, completes the system whereby the bucket is secured to the end of the rocking lever. To control the latter, a jack 17-preferably of the double-acting type-is connected on the one hand at 18 to the end of the jib 2 and on the other hand at 19 to the link 7 of the rocking lever.

Finally, means are provided for lock-ing the intermediate arm 4 and the jib 2 in relation to one another. These means may be of the mechanical type, but will preferably be formed by hydraulically controlled elements.

The drawing illustrates a locking jack 20 connected to the intermediate arm and to the jib, the length of the jack being selected by simply closing a cock 21 provided on the line 22 connecting the jack cylinder to a liquid reservoir 23. However, if locking is required in both directions the jack 20 will be of the double-acting type and a cock 21a, preferably synchronized with the cock 21, will 'be provided on the line 22a connecting the second chamber of the jack to the reservoir 23. Moreover, said jack 20 could in turn .be controlled positively by means of a pump 24 delivering a pressure liuid to either of the lines 22 and 22a (FIGURE 2). To this end, the cocks 21 and 21a will be of the three-way type and preferably controlled simultaneously, one of the lines 22 and 22a being brought into communication with the discharge reservoir 23.

When cock 21 is open (and cock 21a if applicable) operations take place as if the jack 20 did not exist, since its piston can move freely in the cylinder.

Onthe other hand, a similar result could be obtained by providing a jack 25 or a locking element between the intermediate arm 4 and the element 7 of the rocking lever. The quadrilateral 5-9-191.8 would then be made non-deformable provided that the jack 17 is locked (FIGURE 3).

The shovel than operates as follows: during operation, i.e., during levelling of the ground in this case, the bucket 11 m-ust 'be kept at a constant orientation with respect to the ground While undergoing a horizontal reciprocating movement.

To this end, the jack 3 is locked, thus locating the position of the jib 2 with respect to the turret. Moreover, the cock 21 controlling the locking of the jack 20 is open (and the cock 21a if provided) so that the intermediate arm 4 can pivot freely at 5 on the jib 2.

I ack 17 is fed successively in either direction so that the rocking lever performs a reciprocating rotary movement with respect to the intermediate arm 4. Bucket 11 slides over the ground, on which it rests by its own weight, and its orientation is kept constant by means of the articulated parallelogram of the rockingllever.

During the reciprocating movement of the bucket, the intermediate arm 4 oscillates freely between the position shown in solid lines and the position shown in dotted lines, since the jack 20 does not provide any locking of the arm 4 with respect to the jib 2.

If it is now required to load the removed material on to a lorry, the cock 21 is closed and, if applicable, the cock 21a, thus locking the length of the jack 20. The intermediate arm is then located with respect to the jib 2. In these conditions, the bucket 11 can be lifted above the ground to a considerable height by extension of the jack 3 and, if applicable the jack 17, because the entire length of the jib plus the length of the intermediate arm Patented May 17, 1966 y is t-hen Iavailable. Conventional means enable the bucket 11 to be pivoted at the end of the rocking lever, more precisely about the pivot axis 12, for example as a result of retraction of the jack 16.

If it is required to apply the bucket to the ground, the jack 20 can be locked and the jack 3 can be controlled in the retraction direction. If, however, a positive control is provided for the jack 20 (FIGURE 2) by the admission of liquid under pressure to -one of its chambers, the intermediate arm 4 can also pivot on the jib to apply the bucket to the ground.

The invention is naturally not limted to the embodiment hereinbefore described, but covers all variants. In particular, various types of conventional implements for other types of work may be tted to the end of the intermediate element 13. It should also be pointed out that the above-described equipment could be fitted to a jib whose plane of oscillation is not vertical-as illustrated-but horizontal or inclined, and this system would also come within the scope of the invention. Such an arrangement may be useful in certain cases.

What is claimed is:

1. A hydraulic shovel comprising support means, a rigid jib pivoted to said support means, a jack pivotally coupled to said support means and jib to control the position of the jib relative to the support means, an arm pivoted to said jib, a rocking lever pivoted to said arm and being constituted by a pair of parallel elements, a working implement pivoted to said rocking lever, said parallel elements being connected between said arm and said implement to .form a parallelogram linkage therewith, and a jack pivotally coupled to said jib and one of said elements.

2. A shovel as claimed in claim 1, comprising locking means coupled to said arm and jib to x the same relative to each other.

3. A shovel as claimed in claim 2, wherein said locking means includes a jack coupled between said arm and jib.

4. A shovel as claimed in claim 1 comprising locking means coupled to said arm and one of said elements to fix the same relative to each other.

5. A shovel as claimed in claim 4, wherein said locking means comprises jack connected between said arm and one of said elements.

6. A shovel as claimed in claim 1 wherein said jack between the jib and said one element is disposed approximately parallel to said arm during level movement of the implement.

7. A shovel as claimed in claim 6 wherein said jack between the jib and said one eelment is substantially horizontal during level movement of the implement such that force applied to the implement is also substantially horizontal.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,561,694 11/1925 Clutter 214-138 3,080,077 3/1963 Schwellenboch 214-138 3,120,315 2/1964 Johnson et al 214-138 3,127,999 4/1964 Gostomski 214-140 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,307,839 9/1962 France.

HUGO O. SCHULZ, Primary Examiner. 

1. A HYDRAULIC SHOVEL COMPRISING SUPPORT MEANS, A RIGID JIB PIVOTED TO SAID SUPPORT MEANS, A JACK PIVOTALLY COUPLED TO SAID SUPPORT MEANS AND JIB TO CONTROL THE POSITION OF THE JIB RELATIVE TO THE SUPPORT MEANS, AN ARM PIVOTED TO SAID JIB, A ROCKING LEVER PIVOTED TO SAID ARM AND BEING CONSTITUTED BY A PAIR OF PARALLEL ELEMENTS, A WORKING IMPLEMENT PIVOTED TO SAID ROCKING LEVER, SAID PARALLEL ELEMENT BEING CONNECTED BETWEEN SAID ARM AND SAID IMPLEMENT TO FORM A PARALLELOGRAM LINKAGE THEREWITH, AND A JACK PIVOTALLY COUPLED TO SAID JIB AND ONE OF SAID ELEMENTS. 